Jr. Blues Sweep Johnstown

The Jr. Blues skated into the famous War Memorial this past weekend and let their presence be felt. Because of local high school football, the teams squared off Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, marking the first Sunday game of the season for the Jr. Blues.

Saturday night, Ryan Atkinson stole the show from the opening puck drop. Parker Johnson would lose the draw but force a turnover deep in the Tomahawks zone. Johnson found Atkinson in front who buried the pass 12 seconds into the game. Atkinson would add his second of the game 4 minutes later to give the Jr. Blues a 2-1 lead.

Mitch Rogge found the back of the net on the powerplay in the second to put the Jr. Blues up 3-1. However, Johnstown would battle back to 3-3 with 2 third period goals.

In overtime, Mitch Rogge would throw a puck at the net from the half boards and Atkinson was able to find the rebound and put it home, to complete his hat trick.

Matt Leon was strong in net stopping 28 of 31 shots.

Sunday afternoon in Johnstown was much different than Saturday night. On Sunday, the Jr. Blues got goals from 6 different guys.

Johnstown opened the scoring less than 5 minutes into the game to make it 1-0. Before the period was over, Ryan Atkinson would score his 5th goal of the season to make it 1-1. Less than 20 seconds later Trevor Stone would score his 3rd goal of the season to put the Jr. Blues up 2-1 heading into the break.

The second period was all Johnstown as they would find the back of the net 3 times to take a 4-2 lead going into the third period.

However, the Jr. Blues would not be denied this Sunday afternoon. Mike Severson got the team going with his first goal of the season with just over 10 minutes remaining. 3 minutes later, the same line of Devin Mitchell, Oliver Takacsi-Nagy and Severson, would tie the game at 4-4. Mitchell would get the goal, his second as a Jr. Blue.

For the second weekend in a row, captain Mike Fazio would score the game winner to complete the sweep. Fazio, scored with just under 2 minutes to play. Nate Chasteen would add an empty net goal to secure a 6-4 win.

Ryan Kellenberger had 21 saves in the win.

The Jr. Blues return home this weekend to take on the Soo Eagles, Friday and Saturday night at 7 PM. This weekend is Veterans Appreciation Weekend, the team will be wearing special third jerseys which will be available for auction all weekend.